I have always been interested in Firearms even as a child. Even before I got my first Daisy BB Gun, I had toy guns and loved to carry them around. My Dad was never really into Firearms, he only owned one a 22-caliber rifle which was the first Firearm I ever shot, his first and only Firearm. I no longer have that rifle, I gifted it to our oldest grandson Jack, something hopefully he will past down to his children. The majority of my skill set wasn’t learned by him or my Dad, but continuous training and with Certified Instructors. Now, some 50 years later I still have a passion for Firearms along with 30 years of carry experience both in law enforcement and as a private citizen. Even before I became a Certified Firearms Instructor, I taught family and friends about Firearms and Firearm Safety. Teaching others about Firearms comes naturally to me and I have a passion about, since what I was teaching them back then is pretty much what I teach my students now, minor changes and certainly more content but overall, it is still the same. Basic common sense!
Most of the people I know think that since that “Shot a Firearm” they know how to “Shoot a Firearm”, sadly they couldn’t be more wrong. Even those who have a license to carry (CCW) think that they too have superior training with respect to Firearms, again you couldn’t be more wrong. Obtaining a “CCW” is great, everyone who owns a Firearm should have professional training. If our politicians want to do something concerning Firearms, instead of making up more laws that mind you a criminal won’t follow and serve no real purpose. They should require everyone before they can own a Firearm undergo training in both Firearms & Firearm Safety. I mean we all had to test in order to get a driver’s license, doesn’t that make more sense? Or is the idea of having people who are trained with a Firearm and to use it in a safe manner too difficult of a concept for some to understand? We now have 27 States that are Constitutional Carry States, more than half of our country. For those who haven’t or don’t know what that means, is in those States you are not required to undergo any Firearms Training Course, no background checks or licensing and you can carry your Firearm Concealed. Assuming between those 27 States you have a total population of 135 million people and going with the GOA standard that 45% of all households have at least 1 Firearm, that is 60 million plus people that have ZERO TRAINING or at least aren’t required under the law to be trained. I believe in the 2nd Amendment; I also believe that any person who can legally own a Firearm should have the right to do so. We have currently some 20,000 various laws on both the State and Federal level that prohibit those who can’t legally own a Firearm from doing so, that is enough laws to me. I could probably come up with 1000 reasons why you, as an owner of a Firearm, get professional training, but the single reason is that it makes “Common Sense”. I tell all of my students the same thing, “That pulling a trigger on any Firearm is the easiest thing to do, if everything after that, that becomes complicated”. Our lives are already complicated enough, why add to it?